The debut episode of My Best Gay Friends garnered more than a million views since it was uploaded on YouTube in in 2012. What’s most surprising is that the show’s characters are treated like well-rounded individuals, rather than broad, insulting stereotypes.

“The images of homosexuals [in Vietnam] are very negative, so audiences have an ugly idea of the community,” series creator Dang Khoa, 21, told The Telegraph. “I see my life as very normal. That’s why I want to bring true images of homosexuals to everyone, to change their perspective on us.”

Most of the cast are gay in real life, as well as on the screen, says Khoa.

While discrimination is widespread in the country, and most gays and lesbians marry members of the opposite sex, there has been some thawing of attitudes towards LGBTs: In August, Hanoi held its first gay Pride parade. More recently, the Ministry of Justice announced the ruling party would be considering marriage-equality legislation at this year’s National Assembly Congress.

“I think, as far as human rights are concerned, it’s time for us to look at the reality,” Justice Minister Ha Hung Cuong told reporters Tuesday. “The number of homosexuals has mounted to hundreds of thousands. It’s not a small figure. They live together without registering marriage. They may own property. We, of course, have to handle these issues legally.”

I think they are cute. Being able to speak Vietnamese would help a lot in understanding the jokes and punchlines. If I were producing this show I would turn the one in the green shirt (in the opening credits) into a Vietnamese Justin Beiber.
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I sm not surprised at all that the Vietnamese allowed a gay pride parade (though personally I do not see them allow marriage NO time soon. Everyone and their mother knows how much money those pride parades generate. Who would have ever thought the day would come when the late Pablo Escobar’s Colombia would hold a gay pride event in EVERY major city in the country. The same with Venezuela. The Dominican Republic even looks the other way on that day, though no “official” pride events are held anywhere in that country. Yet, that is. Just a few thousand very gay looking men gather at various spots throughout the country having a nice time while being watched closely by the authorities. I see Cuba allowing a pride parade before the Dominican Republic.